Sinners and Saints
by Sataria.Zardania
Summary: The continuation of Janet Saint and the Eden project! The Colony deals with their loss. While in observation Bess discovers the most shocking surprise yet. . .I started this story years ago and my account was shut down. This is mine. You can find the first part of this story at my old account Sataria on Fanfic . net. DM for direct link.
1. Chapter 1

**Yes, I did make this story years ago and I have just started to continue it. The first half was years ago and my style and grammar has -hopefully- improved dramatically since then! I cringe when I read my old work...Picks up RIGHT AFTER the last chapter on the first half. You can find the first part here at my old account Sataria on fan fiction . net ...**

"My name is John Danziger. We have lost a member of our colony on the journey to New Pacifica. Janet Saint has died and her body washed away in the river, she died saving my daughter True. We knew little about her, her family were all gone, she had no one and nothing, we suspect now that her body was hyjacked by the Council. Her mission was to kill Devon Adair, our leader. We also discovered that our own Doctor, Julia Heller, was also a spy. She has been rectified. Janet, several times, would rather die than betray us on her own. However we travel on with or without her, no matter how hard it hurts to go. . ."

Days passed and they traveled on. Julia Heller, betrayed her people, was left behind, and then saved Yale from death and rejoined the group. They all learned about forgiveness in the deepest degree and took Julia in, with stiff spines towards however. Nothing pleased True, she missed Janet, the closest to a mother she had ever known. Even John was affected by her disappearance, though he forced himself to accept it quicker for his and his daughter's sake. Everyone took her for dead and everyone was forced to move on. Though none of them forgot Janet's sacrifice.

After drilling the children on every word they remember the Saint woman saying it was deduced-and after Julia was revealed to be a spy- that the Council had forcibly taken control of Janet's body and actions through a chip implanted in her spine. She truly never had wanted hurt anyone and truly had no choice. Julia remembered the spinal chips, similar to the brain chips in the sick colonists they encountered early in their journey. But Janet's had malfunctioned during her first crash and then it was reactivated when she began settling with the colonists. Surely, however, it must have been broken during her attempt at suicide in the woods, or so they suspected. Hoped, wondered.

As John drove along silently with his daughter trailing somewhere among the group, he thought to himself about how Janet had saved True Twice, without any apparent regard for her own life. True herself hadn't picked up her spirits this whole time. Her father knew of her sadness but could not do anything for it, Janet was gone, once again True's mother had been ripped away by death.

Julia as well was silently affected. She and Janet had been the same, controlled by the Council. Though Janet had been forced too, Julia willingly. Janet had fallen to her death while saving the second of the only two children in the colony, forcing herself to die to prevent herself from fulfilling her purpose. Once everyone knew, no one forgot.

The group could not waste valuable time searching for her, but it took a group meeting to vote on whether or not they should waste the days looking for their fallen comrade. The group decided against it with logic from Yale about how no human could survive that fall into such icy rivers. Rivers that were iced in the night signaling how Winter was approaching from the North. They had no idea where her body went or even if she was truly dead or alive, they could not follow the river to search without losing time and resources and the winter grew colder.

It was decided that Janet would be on her own if she lived and if she did not. . . .. it would not matter.

Just when it seemed that they could move on over the woman's sacrifice, John was only reminded of her further by a Grendler. One of them was spotted wearing Janet's vest on its bulbous head. The red was bright against the creature's grey clothing and skin and the markings were definitely hers. Bess tried to deduce where he found it, but of course understanding between the two beings was hard enough. She tried to barter for it but this Grendler was stubborn and refused to give it up.

"He stole it," John tried to argue. "That belongs to Janet and wherever she was he took it from her."

Bess knew his heart ache, she could feel it, see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice. Ever the sympathetic creature, Bess knew his hurt.

"John I know its hard for you to take it, but she was most likely gone and dead when he found it." She hated to sound so cruel but the reality was far more deadly. "If all she had was her jacket and her vest and you took the jacket and he took the vest, then. . .. ." she didn't want to finish her thoughts.

John nodded and tried to move on, both from his feelings for the woman and to move on with the journey. In her short time she had confused them and wrapped in their hearts as much as they did hers. At night, True liked to sleep with the jacket they still had and John allowed it, he wouldn't be upset if True held on to that jacket until it fell apart. To break out of his thoughts they stopped suddenly for the night, the sun had hit the horizon and camp was being struck.

As he unloaded and set up their tent he watched True and Ully wander around, the red jacket around True was not his own. She wore it more than he cared to look at it. He had begun to understand how important Janet became to True, in her short time of healing with them she had bonded with the girl enough to die for her. John had forgiven her in that split second when he held out his hand out, and she had let go. At first it was betrayal that he felt, that she would leave them like that. But every day he got to look at True was another reason to give thanks to Janet's sacrifice.

* * *

The Grendlers had returned to their make shift huts that they built from here to there along the river banks. They shuffled into their mud huts to the fires they made and sat around them trading things between each other and eating and drooling. The one with the vest trundled through the bunch to the larger hut where most of them gathered together. In the very back, in a tiny alcove where they kept stuff, was a bed of reed mats and laying on it under a ratty fur pelt, was a red haired human. The Grendler with the vest went to her and stared, he could see her breathing faintly. He reached into his bag and pulled out a shell and pulled out some berries. He mashed the berried under his grubby fingers in the shell and then poured some water into it from the canteen he had traded with the other female creature back at the human camps. The woman drank from his shell when he grunted and put it to her mouth. She looked at him and spoke words he didn't understand. She hadn't made an attempt to leave since they rescued her from the river, they didn't mind nor would they have tried to stop her if she had.

The group had found her on the banks, cold and near death. One took her vest and they all took her body, hoping to search for more useful things on her but she turned out to not be as dead as they thought. They took it upon themselves to care for the being, traveling with her among them, feeding her, keeping the strange creature warm in the cold they could expertly survive. She was like a baby to them, they accepted her as such. She could not walk properly on one foot, it seemed to be broken or caused her pain when she did and so the Grendlers made do. They didn't seem bothered by her at all really, they fed her, warmed her, carried her all without incident or complaint.

She herself decided this was better off. If she had to live she would live among those the council knew nothing about. If her chip was still active of course, which she felt it might be by the painful electrical shocks it sent through her body from time to time. She suspected it had been further damaged by both her falls that one day, from the tree and into the river. It was like it kept shorting out, was maybe even being rusted or eaten away by her own body. She had no way to tell the Grendlers about it and they had no way to know what to do.

But it pained her, like her re-broken ankle, it pained her. She could hardly move some days without intense pain shooting all up and down her spine. Her caretakers didn't seem to realize how burdensome it was, at least not for them. They didn't mind her needy presence and she began to realize just how caring these beings could be. How helping others just seemed like something they did without any reason. They had no reason to keep her alive, no reason at all, she was not one of them, not even one of the colonists anymore. Yet that mattered for nothing, the Grendlers took care of her and she tried to need as little as possible while they kept her alive on a solid diet of mashed berries and small meaty creatures that they caught from time to time.

Once again, Janet stared at them and ignored their stench in a confined hut and allowed them to care for her. An electrical shock shot through her spine and she froze as she contained the pain. Her body shook and she locked in place as she rode it out. When it finished she let out her breath that was pent up and breathed deeply with each new inhale. She sighed when it passed and collapsed back on the bed.

"If this never ends, I'll just kill myself and get it over with," she thought to herself.

But until she truly decided her life was ended she let the Grendlers be her home.

* * *

Bess had always wondered about the Grendler's home. She was recording her meetings with them, documenting their encounters. Yet for as much as she thought she had learned, she didn't know their home lives. Finally, one day after trading, she decided to follow them. The one with Janet's vest caught her attention especially, where he got it from she wanted to know. Yet he could never answer her questions and never gave her the vest no matter what she offered.

She decided to follow him. She didn't tell anyone and didn't plan to be gone long enough for anyone to get concerned, surely Morgan would object and someone would want to follow her. Having worked up to a trusting relationship with these beings she didn't want to scare them or drive them away. So she followed at a distance, trekking behind them as they made way to the river at the bottom of a gorge. It hadn't taken so horribly long but was still a good ways hiking from their own camp. The sun was nearly setting.

Even across the river, she followed, as they went deeper into the forest. All the while she watched the Red Vest Grendler, he was the one who interested her. They knew she was following and were comfortable with her enough to let her do so. Still she cautiously approached the encampment, following their path across the shallow part of this river and her eyes took it all in and right away she could see that they were nomadic. She sat on a rock on their side of the banks and wrote about what she saw.

Her eyes watched and scanned carefully as they went about their day. Some cooked, others put mud on their huts, some tended to fire pits and some sorted their wares. They didn't seem to pool their hauls together, each for his own yet they all fed each other and shared commodities such as huts and pelt blankets. Simple they seemed, they were a tribe, a clan. She saw what she suspected was young or offspring, just smaller versions of the adults she knew. Smaller, but not by much, that was all that set them apart.

The One she followed she sketched, capturing the way he wore the vest wrong, sewn onto his ratty robes atop his hunched head like a hood rather than an actual vest. He went into the largest hut, what was the central hub Bess thought. He carried in his bag, then came back out and held a large piece of shell in his stubby fingers. He went to a fire pit that another Grendler was roasting some form of small animal over, and torn into the meat. He put it on the shell and then turned and returned to the big hut. It was nearing dark when Bess saw him come back out only to sit around the fire pit and eat food with the others.

This she wrote down and hurried back to camp before night fall. Later, after everyone had said good night, had food to eat and watch was posted, she read through her notes of the day. When she read the last bit, about Her Grendler, it seemed odd. He went into the hut with food, came out with neither shell nor food and yet sat and ate with the others outside. That seemed odd to her, not normal behavior and no other Grendler she observed did what he had.

Was there someone inside maybe? Surely she didn't think it was a baby Grendler, from what she had seen and knew, they raised one offspring until adulthood at a time. Unless one of the females had had young that she hadn't seen. But then again it wasn't a female that went into the hut, it was the male. Did they act as parents equally then? She wrote the question down and then put her journal away and went to sleep.

However, her questions wouldn't die. She couldn't stop thinking about it but the colony moved on. She had noted that these Grendlers were seemingly nomadic, they followed the river. It was another week or so before she found them again though, they had gravitated back to the colony. She went to their camp, found her Grendler and inched closer to the main group. They noticed her but did not seem upset, she inched closer yet again. They allowed it.

She crept among them, creeping slowly towards the main hut. None of them seemed bothered by Bess, so familiar to them by now. She boldly made her way to the main hut and when none of them were watching she looked inside, dying to know what they had hidden away. She saw it was spacious and a small fire burned inside. It looked like many slept here, their bags laying next to mats where she guessed they slept. In the back she saw a nest of pelts and blanketing. It was certainly a sleeping place.

Just as she looked in and saw it the pelts moved and a figure surfaced from their bed. Red hair was wild, and face was pale but there, very much alive, was Janet Saint. Bess felt her face flush and her eyes go wide in shock. She stood in the entry way, stepping into the fire light and letting the woman see her.

"Janet?" She said.


	2. Chapter 2

Janet was just as shocked to see Bess. She shook her head when the woman approached. Bess was hugging her before Janet could push her off.

"Get out of here Bess!" She said. "You have to get away from me!" She coughed.

The other woman fell into concern. "Are you ok?"

She shook her head. "Its not easy coming back from the dead. Look I just need you to leave me, get as far away as you can before its too late."

"I won't, I'll come back. I'll come with help and we can take you to Julia."

"No! I don't want anything to do with anyone!" She coughed again.

"We forgive you Janet. We know about the chip and the Council. We know about Julia, we know."

"You..you know?"

"Yes. Julia can help you if you give her the chance. She removed an exploding bullet from Yale and he's alive because of it, she can help you too. Don't you want that?"

Janet looked so unsure, scared even. Her eyes welled with tears.

"I don't know what I want. I've been sitting in this hut as we move from place to place, waiting for nothing. I don't know how long its been. I'm sick, I'm dying. I'm a burden."

"Well then if you are and you end up dying for real we'll bury you and you won't be a burden. But if you live you're still one of us."

Before Janet could stop her the woman was gone. She stuttered for her to stop, but she didn't. Bess left Janet and suddenly the red head didn't know if she was angered to be alone so suddenly again, or whether Bess might come back. She didn't know if she wished she had been left to die or found. Either way she didn't think it mattered, she could feel the fever, again. She knew her ankle was wrecked. She hadn't fully recovered from the crash to G889, only to ruin it again in her attempted suicide. Then again it was further insulted by her abuse in the river. She sighed and leaned back to sleep.

* * *

When Bess returned to the camp she went straight to Devon. She tore through the crowds and ignored her husband's questions. He followed her, demanding to know what was wrong. Bess found her friend and leader near her tent talking to Alonzo. He turned away when Bess approached and Morgan stood back.

"Devon!" She shouted. "Devon! I need to talk to you!"

She came close and Devon looked up, perplexed.

"Come in, come in. What's happening?"

"I found something and you won't believe it." Bess was only an arm's reach away, she lowered her voice and they went into the tent. Yale ushered Ully out to go sit by the fire with the others, to go find True. When he was gone Bess revealed her news. "It's Janet, I found her. She's alive!"

"Where?" Yale asked.

Devon nodded once.

"Down by the river, in the Grendler camp. They saved her, they've been keeping her among them this whole time, feeding her."

"Oh my god," Devon whispered. "Alive?"

"I want to go back for her. She's sick and we need to get her to Julia."

"We can't make a rescue trip in the night. She could injured on the journey back." Devon had to think it over in her rational mind. "We need to warn Julia to prepare and we need to make a stretcher so we can carry her back."

"Or have John do it. He did it before he can do it again," Bess suggested.

"But is that safe?" Yale asked. "For Her and for us? We don't know if the chip is still active. As much as I want to believe in her again, we all know what that it can make her do."

The women paused for thought and it was Devon who came up with the supposed answer.

"We have Julia set up a triage tent away from camp. I won't go with you on the rescue, but we can try to have her do the operation out there and if she is successful you renter camp."

"I agree." Yale nodded.

Bess did as well. "I'll go inform Julia."

"And keep it quiet," Devon suggested. "Until we know if this works."

She nodded and turned to leave, only to collide with her husband. She bumped into him and he caught her in his arms.

"Bess!"

"Morgan!"

"Janet's alive?!"

"Sshhh!" She shushed him and took his hand, leading him through camp. "You have to be quiet Morgan. She is and I'm going after her. She needs our help."

"After everything she did?!"

"You know as well as I do that she was forced to it."

He grumbled a response and followed her to Julia's tent. Once inside Bess informed the doctor of her findings. As with the others, it was hard for Julia to believe.

"You're Sure it was her?" Heller asked.

Bess nodded. "I am. She's alive. In bad shape but alive."

"Then shouldn't we leave for her now?"

"She's sick but she will last till morning. Besides, Devon and Yale agree that until we know the working status on that spinal implant she's got, we can't bring her back."

Julia listened carefully. "I'll have to set up for delicate surgery. There might be one of two ways of conditions she could be in. One, the chip is still securely wired to her spinal cord. It's hard to remove without the touch sensitive key."

"Can it be done?"

There was a contemplative sigh. "Yes, but it won't be easy for either of us. The second condition is that, with all this jarring her body has been going through; the crash, the suicide attempt, falling to the river. Maybe, just Maybe, the wire got knocked loose. You see the implant is a rice sized and shaped chip. It's injected up against the spine, between vertebrate." She explained. "A wire comes out of the chip and has two barbs on the end that attach to the spinal cord. Doesn't hurt much going in but its like pulling a nerve going out." She leaned against a table. "I'm sure her ankle is broken again."

"I think it might be," the younger said. "She wasn't walking when I saw her. She was sweating and coughing."

"Wouldn't be surprised if she's gotten sick from all the exposure and who knows what she's been eating."

"Knowing her, she's doing what little she can to survive."

"Removing the chip can either kill her or it won't. She'll have to deal with it if she lives."

Bess couldn't sleep the entire night. She had informed the doctor about Janet's status and then about Devon's idea. Julia agreed and the two set up supplies until the early hours of morning when they both had to get some rest. Morgan had questioned whether or not it was a smart idea and Bess shut him up. He went back to their tent to sulk. She joined him in the wee hours to get what sleep she could. He looked at his wife and shook his head, she was so forceful. It was one of the many things he loved about her.

After the sun had been up for some odd hours, she stood in the clearing watching John Danzinger go over the rovers. She needed his help, he could carry the frail woman around in the wilderness. He had carried her from her ship to the colony, he could carry her a few hundred yards up the bank. He was one of the few people Bess trusted with this, despite the part where he threatened to shoot Janet. But they hadn't known about the chip then, now they did and it all made sense. Finally she went over.

"Hey Danziger!"

He looked up politely. "Hi Bess." He went back to work.

"Can you help me with something?"

He paused and looked at her, a little bit irritated. He was kind though. "With what?"

"Walk and talk with me will you? I want to tell you something."

John would rather work but he decided to try and see what he could help her with. What she needed. He put down his tools and went over to her, wiping his hands on a rag.

"Yeah Bess?"

"John, I need you to remain calm when I tell you what I have to tell you."

He was expectant. "Yes?"

"She's alive," her blue eyes were wide and bright in the day time. "I found her. I found Janet."

His face went blank. His stomach went hollow. His heart skipped a couple beats.

"Alive?"

"She's with the Grendlers and I'm going back for her. I need your help to carry her."

"When are you leaving? Does Devon know?"

She could see the spark in his eyes. "We're leaving at midday, Devon knows. We're setting up a triage tent for Julia to operate on her, to remove the spinal chip."

"Just you and Julia?"

"And, I was hoping, you."

He nodded. "I'll have True stay with Devon."

"And I'll meet you at Julia's tent midday."

He nodded and they parted. As he walked away he was numb. Was she really alive? Could she be saved? Most importantly how could he continue working?

His blue eyes looked up to the horizon where the sun was beginning to crest the trees. When True awoke he couldn't tell her, he would make up some excuse she would probably see through and he would leave for a day or two. He didn't enjoy lying to her but he didn't want to get her hopes up.

Then again, just what were his feelings towards her? They didn't part on good terms. Of course there was the gun he rammed against her head... after she tried to kill Devon...because she was being manipulated...It was confusing, a lot of back and forth, action and reaction. But in the end, no matter what she had been used for, twice she had risked her life to save True. Twice. Even after he had exiled her.

He at least had to return the favor and if there was a way to get her live a normal life, maybe he could help.

* * *

When the time came John's heart pounded in his ears. He didn't tell True where he was going, only that he would be back. Julia and John followed Bess through the woods, all three weighed down with a tent, supplies, and dragging behind them like a sled was a collapsible table with other things the doctor would need.

Down to the banks and a ways up their side they found a level clearing by the water and set up their tent. After that, Julia gave them the go ahead to retrieve Janet while she set up the operation table and what little equipment they had brought. She had never dealt with this level of intensity of surgery and in such primitive conditions. It would have to do so far from the main camp.

Bess went to the Grendlers, during this time of day most were gone. She had John walk before her as she went to the Red Vested Grendler. She went to him and started a trade, pulling out shiny forks and spoons, a metal plate, something to catch his eye. She pointed to the main hut.

"Trade," she said slowly. "I want to give you these," she held up her wares. "For my friend," she pointed to the hut.

He snorted and blinked and watched her. Suddenly he stood and shuffled to the hut, sitting in the entrance. The humans followed carefully, John became anxious, his heart pounded. Bess went to stand beside him and looked in. The creature pointed to Janet and then to Bess. He huffed and grunted and did it again.

"We take her," Bess said slowly. "We will take her."

John watched from behind her.

He didn't stop the two humans as they went forward. He saw her then, laying in her nest. Her sunken face, she looked worse off than when he found her in her ship. She was on her side facing them but fast asleep in the low lit hut. Bess stood aside as he crouched beside her and put his palm to her forehead. She was burning with fever.

Her eyes slowly opened and she saw John Danzinger beside her and smiled as best she could.

"You shouldn't have come," she whispered. "You shouldn't. . . . . "

"Shh now. We're going to help you. Just be still."

She nodded and closed her eyes again, falling back asleep. He gathered her in his arms and picked her up, Bess watched with an airy heart. The Grendler seemed alright with their actions as they took Janet into the day and away from there. He made no move to stop them and instead sat down and nodded, watching them leave. Bess left her goods and followed Danziger through the woods.

She smelled awful, probably hadn't bathed in days or more. But John didn't care, he had her in his arms. She was alive and real, but hot with fever. He felt her body shake through the blanket wrapped around her. Along the way he realized that whether or not he loved or hated her in that moment didn't matter, he cared about her. He wanted her to get better and finally join them.

But wasn't He trying to Not join them? God damn it. She had to survive, it would settle their score.

"Just live," he whispered to the woman in his arms.

They took her inside their tent and the doc had him put her face down on the table. She gave her a small dose of medicine to stun her into relaxing her body, yet she was still somewhat conscious, enough for Julia to gauge her accuracy. John could only step back and watch as Julia prepared her for operation, she removed her shirt and put a blanket with a hole in it over her where she would cut into her back.

She felt around her spine and quickly found the chip. A rice sized lump between her shoulder blades. Every time Julia put pressure on it, Janet's body stiffened. She frowned.

"That isn't good."

"What isn't?" John demanded to know.

"The chip is broken, its electrocuting her."

"Make it stop dammit!"

"John you have to go," she scowled at him fiercely. "I cannot do this with you yelling like that. I know you care about her, so let me do my work. Bess!"

John stepped out and Bess stepped in to lend a hand. She watched as Julia carefully opened the section of flesh and peeled back skin and meat to expose the chip, a little black grain. Bess couldn't help but wince a little. It was cracked and the area around it was red with infection. A tiny black wire was embedded into her spine. Heller's glove waved over and around the chip and she could see the images on her eye piece. She could see the spinal cord and the wire, it had dislodged from being connected to the cord, which is why it shorted. She knew what she had to do. With tweezers holding the chip in one hand she held a small scalpel in the other.

Carefully she lifted the chip until the wire was extended. She pulled gently, the wire moved and Janet's body tensed violently. Julia released it and then tried again. There wasn't much else she could do besides take a thin small poker, insert it next to the wire, and try to move the prongs on the other end of the wire, to maneuver it out of her spine. Bess took Janet's hand and felt her squeeze tightly out of nerve flex.

It wasn't long at all before Bess left the tent. Well after dark. She went to John and sat beside him, she was smiling.

"How is she?"

"Fine for now. She's sleeping." She couldn't help but grin. "Julia did it. Easier than it would have been, her falls made it easier for us to remove. She has a blood infection but she'll recover." She held up a small little black chip on her finger. "This was it."

John opened his hand and she put it in his palm. A little black grain of rice with a small wire on end. "Thank you Bess. . . ."

"I did it for her too John." She said. "She deserved a chance." With a grin she looked down and then at John. "You know, now that I think about it, maybe that Grendler was trying to tell us about her the whole time. He wouldn't trade the vest because he was trying to get us to go with him."

John laughed in his throat and gave it thought. She got back up and went to their bags to get something to eat. John couldn't eat, not until he knew that Janet was awake and ready to go back to the camp with them. Julia would stay in the tent by her side and monitor her health. With Heller's treatment she expected Janet to be walking in days. She too hoped that like herself, Janet would find peace and a new beginning. She for one was willing to stay here to make sure she made it through the night. Once she did they could take her into camp.

Finally, they were free.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is Doctor Julia Heller. I have successfully removed the spinal chip from Janet Saint. She was under control of the Council this whole time as we discovered after it was too late. But somehow, we were still able to save another human from their traps. As a group we move on as a whole, stronger, wiser. Still we are many months travel away from New Pacifica and we never know what the journey will bring."

When she opened her eyes she was met with the white walls of a tent. It was a little colder and she was bundled in blankets. She could hear chatter outside, people doing their business. She looked around and felt light headed and hungry, when she turned to her right he was there. John was reclining in a seat by her cot, he was sleeping. Her heart fluttered, she felt no electric shocks.

He opened his eyes, feeling like he was being watched, and met her brown eyed stare. He smiled.

"Hi," he said.

She tried to speak but her throat was dry.

He shook his head. "You don't have to speak. You're in the colony now, everyone is aware. Julia took it away you won't hurt anyone anymore."

She smiled and her eyes misted with tears. She nodded.

"She also said you had a blood infection, but you're on the mend. She will take care of you until you can properly walk. After that life is up to you but I hope you'll stay with us. With me maybe and True."

By her bed was a small crate acting as bed side table and on it was a metal pitcher and cup. He poured her some water and held it to her lips. She drank and cleared her throat.

"I would." She said with a hoarse voice.

He sat close to her and put his palm on her forehead. She wasn't so burning with fever anymore and it eased his worries. She wanted to cry but didn't, no not in front of John. Yet likewise, she could see the tears well in his eyes mirroring her own. But both were too proud to cry.

"Where is she?" Janet asked. "Is she alright?"

He knew who she meant. "Yes, True is alright. She's been waiting to see you but Julia says you shouldn't have many visitors, not yet."

Janet closed her eyes and smiled. She sighed deeply, a fulfilling breath. John stayed with her and they spoke about what had happened to Julia, how John was shot in the leg by a ZED. Julia had been saving everyone just after she tried to kill them. Somehow the colonists forgave both would be women killers. John had to admit that it was easier trusting Janet because she had had no control, Julia had merely been hired and convinced to do it.

"John. . . the moment I met your group, the moments I found out Devon had a son, I couldn't do it. I didn't want to. You believe me right?" Her voice cracked.

He nodded and shushed her. "Easy now, easy."

"I didn't want to do it. . .I-I couldn't do to her what the council did to me." One solitary tear managed to betray her.

John smiled at her and she him, he nodded. With her fear somewhat abated, her drowsiness won over and she fell back into sleep with a sigh. John let her be. He moved out of the tent while she slept and went to make his rounds before the sun set. He was relieved, that much he understood. He hadn't known her long, neither he nor True had. But both had come to love her in their own ways. True hadn't stopped asking about her and John knew it would be days before Janet was cleared of infection. No contagious but she needed rest. Devon had a vote go around, they deemed it was only fair to vote on whether or not the whole colony would rest for a few days while Janet recovered. More had deemed that she had earned the rest and they felt it fair, while some-most notably Morgan- argued against it.

But they stayed. Devon had been grateful to Janet in keeping her son safe while he and True had run away. In return, the red head came clean to Devon, her new leader. After a lengthy talk, Devon forgave her for her attack. When days past, Julia deemed her healthy for long travel. Again, John volunteered his and True's tent, especially in her condition. Her ankle had indeed been re-broken, but she steered around on her crutch well enough as the time went on.

Bess too lent her a helping hand, against the wishes of Morgan. The red head became deeply thankful to her younger friend. It wasn't long before rest won over and the newest member of the colony was able to hobble about outside. She and True spent precious time together, during the children's schooling hours she sat in. Listening contently to Yale drone on about biology and chemistry and things she hadn't paid attention to during her own youth.

She was content to travel, to rest. The blood infection passed, her ankle healed but after breaking twice, Julia's best efforts couldn't properly repair it. It didn't hurt but it wasn't what it used to be. But she was happy. Happy to sped time re-educating herself, happy to be near True girl and Ully. Happy to be forgiven.

One sunset, with winter now clearly closer than ever, Bess and Janet sat on a ridge overlooking a valley beyond their camp. The sun cast reds, pinks and yellow streaks across the blue expanse above. They were smiling, talking, wondering of their future here. Bess was determined to stay once they reached their destination. Janet too decided she would stay, she had nowhere else, no one else.

"So how are you getting along with him?"

"With John? Oh he's so amazing. Strong, kind." She smiled and hugged her coat around herself.

"Just strong and kind?" Bess teased.

Janet turned red. "What are you getting on about?"

"You know what I mean," she giggled. "I've seen the look you give him. Its the same look you've given him before. You like him."

She tried to hide her blush. "I appreciate what he's done for me."

"I think your eyes say more than appreciation."

Janet wasn't never used to showing her feeling. Other than anger, force and passion, she didn't know many other feelings. She had never been in this type situation, with people who cared about her well being without wanting her to do something in return. The only person she had ever loved more than herself was her daughter. She hardly knew her father and brothers when they died at her young age. Her mother distanced herself from Janet not long after. Not even her husband had shown more than a gloating smile with her, he had merely wanted to tame the wild child. . .and he had. For a time.

She decided to tell Bess, this woman seemed to understand humans better than anyone.

"I was married once," she started. "Cane his name was. He was like Morgan, an earth correspondent, that's really why I fell for him. It was as glamorous as it could be. My dad had died on earth so I tried to forget that earth existed. Cane was forceful, powerful, rich. He gave me money, I gave him a baby," she sighed into the cold breeze, "and then he died. On earth like every other male in my life he died in a firey explosion."

Bess stayed silent as she listened. This was the most anyone knew about Janet.

"Celeste was the only human I ever truly loved. I did, oh I tried to be a better person for her. I tried Bess. After Her death I just kind of gave up. I dedicated my life to my cousin and his son and the Council. My mother and uncle were dying, they pro ised to help them. . . ." she sniffed. "They're dead now."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. Twenty two years later I know. I have no one, everyone I ever loved and was close to died. Its not just some sob story that you can't make up, it really happened. It made em afraid of loving people because my love was toxic. I love True, but look what nearly happened to her. She almost fell like MY child. . . .I love her but I can't love John."

"True said you already told her you had feeling for him."

"Once, before I betrayed you all."

"That was a long time ago Janet."

"Not so long ago."

Bess stood up then and stretched. "Well, when you stop feeling sorry for the past and living with the dead you may just see yourself in the now."

"Does he like me?" She asked as her friend began to walk away. "I mean if I did go for it. . . what would be waiting for me?"

"You'll have to find that out yourself!" Was the happy reply from the woman walking back to camp.

Janet looked back at her halfheartedly and then turned back to watch the sunset. What did that mean? John could NOT love her, much less even like her. She still felt so stuffed with guilt at her forced betrayal. But he had been kind enough to take her in, kind enough to let her back into the group. When she opened her eyes and saw him in the Grendler tent, her heart had nearly burst, she had been so happy to see him. But also scared, scared because the last time they had been so close he had a gun to her head. Rightfully so...

She wanted to scream but growled loudly in frustration. "This is so complicated!" She yelled, not too loudly. "Dammit Danziger. I. . . .I think I love you?" She said it to herself and looked down at her gloved hands and she opened them and clenched them. The words didn't sound or feel right, what was she saying?

Those blue eyes, his tall frame, his scent, his family, his curly hair...He had carried her across the lands, sheltered her, she had betrayed him and yet he still took her back. Never had she met a manw ith a bigger heart. With the chip removed the world was alive to her again, she had no reason to betray anyone anymore, had no reason to want to return tot he stations. She had no reason to do anything other than stay on G889 and make a new family and make a new life. Hell, she could even give herself a new name if she wanted to. There was nothing stopping her. . . . . . . .. except herself.

* * *

John watched True run around the camp with Ully, getting ready for night as the sun set. Alonzo was helping him reconfigure a rover. Janet was off on watch duty until the sun was gone, then she would be replaced. Bess came walking back into camp and John knew they had been together, he liked that Bess was kind to Janet. His eyes darted in the direction he knew Janet to be sitting. He couldn't help but smile when he glanced towards the west, Bess came close and he held up his hand to get her attention.

"Bess!"

She waved to him and smiled.

"Janet up there still?"

She nodded. "And doing fine. Might need your help to come back down though." She grinned and went to her own tent.

John turned back to working in the dying light.

"I think that's all we're going to get done in this light," Solace said suddenly. He leaned back and looked over their camp.

"I agree with you on that." Danziger sat on a stump of wood and nodded. He smiled at the sound of children's laughter.

Alonzo noticed. "She makes you happy."

"Of course, she's my daughter. To see her happy makes Me happy."

"That's not who I meant." He grinned.

The other man raised an eyebrow. "Oh really now? And who do you mean?"

"You know. You keep looking to her post spot. She's fine you don't have to worry so much."

"I know that," Danziger said with a hint of irritation.

"Oh come on John," he said with a lower tone of voice. "Anyone can see it."

"Someone has to keep an eye on her."

"You bring her into your home and trust her around her around True. I'd say you like her."

"Just returning the favor."

"Or a little something more? C'mon John, you could let her be by herself. And she could camp on her own, her ankle isn't that bad, she doesn't need constant assistance."

"And what do you want to happen hm? We fall in love and get married. Sure, that'll happen."

Alonzo laughed and shook his head. "Just sayin', as we pioneer along you never know what will happen. That's why its pioneering."

"We both have more important things on our minds kid, trust me Falling in love is the last thing I want to do out here. I still want to get back to the stations, unlike you. Janet has already said she won't go back."

"Of course, nothing for her there. Everything for her here."

It was no secret that Alonzo and Jullia had flirtatious happenings between them. He had gone back for the doctor after her betrayal, nearly in the same manner than John went back for Janet after her's. John couldn't deny that that wasn't what a normal, not in love man did for a woman he apparently wasn't in love with. John had never been forced to help Janet, but he was always the one who ended up doing it, carrying her around and such. It didn't take much begging from True, hardly any at all really and that revelation made John slightly surprised with himself...and concerned. Now was not the time for him to suddenly become enamored with a woman like Janet Saint. Though he could admit that she helped watch True for him and he felt safe around her, with his daughter in her presence. He knew now that Janet would die before letting harm come to True, they were so attached he had almost had no choice in letting her stay in their tent. Cramped as it was they had made room.

If Alonzo could let his feelings for Julia come into the open perhaps there was a chance for John. A chance he never thought would come again was suddenly at his side, he didn't know what to do with it.

 **Dribble, drabble, lovey dovey. Is there a chance for true love on G889? Is it possible with what has happened between them?**


End file.
